We all know where the gambling action is, right? Las Vegas, Nevada, at one end of the country, Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the other. But what we may not know is that’s only about a tenth of the story. In actuality, the United States is home to a number of gambling operations, tribal and non-tribal, which rake in millions of dollars of tax revenue for their respective states each year.

Recently, CNBC online published a list of the top 13 states that raised the most revenue from commercial gambling in 2012. Because the National Indian Gambling Association does not publish state-by-state numbers, this list does not include tribal gaming operations. However, combined revenue for these venues reached around $27 billion for 2013, which, if taken into consideration, would make California and Connecticut the two top gambling markets in the US.

Still, the growing number of non-tribal gambling operations is surprising, with the top 13 states as follows:

13. Colorado

12. West Virginia

11. Michigan

10. Iowa

9. Illinois

8. Missouri

7. New York

6. Mississippi

5. Louisiana

4. Indiana

3. New Jersey

2. Pennsylvania

1. Nevada

Ben Affleck Banned from Blackjack at the Hard Rock

Ben Affleck may be one of the most successful writers, directors, and actors working in Hollywood today, but that doesn’t make him immune to the rules of blackjack play. The celebrity gossip site TMZ first broke the news that Affleck was banned from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino Hollywood during a visit to Sin City on April 29 with his wife, actress Jennifer Garner. While it is unclear what, exactly, prompted security to boot the Argo actor from the tables, rumor has it he was counting cards. While not technically illegal, counting cards is considered a no-no by casino management, who regularly pull players whom they catch working their mathematical magic. A source that spoke with TMZ reports that security told Affleck, “You’re too good at the game.” He was allowed, however, to play elsewhere in the establishment, and Hard Rock management even supplied a car for him and Jennifer to return to their hotel.

It’s a rags to riches story if ever there was one: a poor child grows up in a bad neighborhood, skips college, perseveres through a handful of minimum wage jobs, joins the army, and then starts a string of businesses that would earn him millions of dollars by the time he was in his mid-thirties.Over the course of his life so far, Sheldon Adelson has started over 50 businesses, but none as lucrative as Las Vegas Sands, a development company that oversees operations at destination casino resorts in Las Vegas, Macau, and Singapore.

Earning an average of $32 million a day over the last year—the third most of anyone in the world—Adelson’s fortune grew to over $11.2 billion dollars last year. That astonishing figure earned him eighth place on Forbes magazine’s most recent annual ranking of billionaires, behind Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim Helu, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Amancio Ortega, the man behind the phenomenally successful Spanish clothing chain Zara.

Few Vegas gambling moguls can touch Adelson’s success. In fact, the closest second, Steve Wynn, only boasts a personal fortune of around $2.5 billion, according to the most recent numbers available. Las Vegas’s Phillip Ruffin comes in third at around $2 billion. Steve Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine, and Station Casino owner and Ultimate Fighting Championship investor Frank Fertitta round out the top five wealthiest Las Vegas casino magnates at about $1.5 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.

New Gambling Rule: You Lose You . . . Sue?

You would think a 52-year-old man would be old enough to know when to quit. But, no. Mark Johnston, a retiree from California, believes that the $500,000 he lost while gambling during a blackout drunk back in February is the fault of the Downtown Grand in Las Vegas. And he wants the casino to give it back to him. Why? Johnston claims that because Nevada law bars casinos from allowing visibly drunk patrons to gamble and from serving them comped drinks, he should never have been allowed to remain at the tables. Furthermore, in addition to bringing him free drinks in spite of his obvious intoxication, the casino kept issuing him the markers, or credit, that allowed his play to continue.

The Downtown Grand, which opened in late 2013, is countersuing, claiming that Johnston knew what he was doing and that he is simply trying to shirk his gambling debts. No doubt the tapes from the surveillance cameras will come into play in the judge’s decision. If Johnston’s claim is upheld, it could open the floodgates for thousands of similar lawsuits. If not, it will once again represent a victory for emphatic supporters of personal responsibility, on and off the tables.

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